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benblodgett's comments

benblodgett | 12 years ago | on: Goodbye Gmail

Why wouldn't you just use imap in an email client? I don't see any benefit to using a cloud email service when you can just host email easily on a cloud server..

benblodgett | 12 years ago | on: Empty London

This is really cool, I've never been to London so I have no reference for how busy the places he photographs typically are. I would love to see a similar project for NYC.

benblodgett | 12 years ago | on: Switch to HTTPS Now, For Free

I agree it shouldn't change conversions, but I would also like to see some data supporting that. I run a lot of ecommerce sites and couldn't imagine the number of transactions not dropping if I just removed my SSL from every site.

benblodgett | 12 years ago | on: Why I Moved My Startup to Oakland

Let me start by saying I like the sentiment here. The hardest thing about living in NYC is knowing too many people. They distract you and give a false sense of comfort towards your situation. I get that.

But, I have a problem with this, is moving an hour outside of a city really relocating? I'd argue if you don't want to be comfortable move to a city where you have no connections. Focus on somewhere not particularly welcoming to tech entrepreneurs and really get out of the comfort zone. Otherwise, I don't think you really moved your startup anywhere.

benblodgett | 12 years ago | on: A startup accelerator for the world’s poorest

I am the founder of nKoso.org a sponsorship program for children in rural Ghana. We focus on at risk rural children and place them in one of our partner private schools. We're new, but have funded nearly 100 children's education since our launch in April.

If you want to chat further email me [email protected]

benblodgett | 12 years ago | on: Duck Duck Go is blowing up again

I think DDG would be a much more viable option if they owned ddg.com. The reason I still use google is because it flows naturally on the keyboard. I use search as a navigation method, and typing duckduckgo.com is annoying. I would absolutely make the full switch if command + t + ddg.com + query returned what I wanted.

The search results are good, I salute you for that, but it's just not convenient so I still find myself at google. You are asking for a major workflow change but not making it easy.

benblodgett | 13 years ago | on: Airbnb Stay Illegal In New York City, Rules Judge

Spoken like someone who has never lived in NYC. We live in such proximity to our neighbors that their behavior has a larger impact than in most places. I had problems with an airbnber just two weeks ago when they had 50+ people partying in the loft above mine. Friends have reported similar experiences.

benblodgett | 13 years ago | on: Nkoso: Global crowdfunding platform for education

Vittana is a great organization, we have a lot of admiration for them. The primary difference is the level of education that we focus on. Unlike Vittana we are helping students in primary school vs secondary or higher education.

benblodgett | 13 years ago | on: Nkoso: Global crowdfunding platform for education

I think people prefer to donate to people vs a cause. I do like the idea of grouping students by class, however I want to keep the goal amount as low as possible. We are focused on making charity more accessible to the masses, so I want someone who donates $5 to feel like they have a direct impact. This would dilute if the goal was $1000 vs $100.

benblodgett | 13 years ago | on: Nkoso: Global crowdfunding platform for education

That's a great question and it is one of the toughest problems with the model. We have decided to take a fee (3% of tuition) in order to cover our basic technical costs.

In order to become more sustainable we are building partnerships with other ngos who can benefit from our technology.

benblodgett | 13 years ago | on: Why is Facebook blue? The science of colors in marketing

> 21% more people clicked on the red button than on the green button. Everything else on the pages was the same, so it was only the button color that made this difference.

I think it is a bit of a reach to immediately jump to concluding red outperforms green. Cohorts in a/b testing are not always equal (even if the traffic split is 50/50).

Imagine situations where 30% of a has 70% more mobile users than those of b. The green used for b is significantly less noticeable on mobile than desktop.

Can we still reasonably conclude that color defined the conversion difference?

benblodgett | 13 years ago | on: Why I Let My Students Cheat On Their Exam

Schools emphasize the numerical values that represent the 'amount learned', not the actual acquisition of knowledge.

Any college student with the sole goal of learning how to learn & think unfortunately doesn't survive the education system.

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